Hidden Meanings
by marvxl
Summary: After much confusion, Merlin and Morgana are finally happy. That is until Merlin is forced into marrying the Lady Celia to maintain peace between Camelot and a neighbouring kingdom. (MERGANA)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"We should propably tell Arthur soon…" Morgana whispers as Merlin continues to kiss her neck.

"Not now, later." He mumbles into her neck, trying to put it off.

"Don't you want anyone to know about us?" She asks him, stopping him with a hurt expression.

"No! That's not why, of course I want him to know but I would like to live past the announcement. You know how protective he is of you." She seems to accept his reply, not stopping her when he kisses her. Instead, she kisses him back passionately.

"That's very true. Well, he will just have to live with it." She says, trying to catch her breath back after breaking apart.

"But.."

"Please?" She begs, giving him her puppy dog eyes, which she knows he can never say no to.

"Fine, I'll go see him later. Right now, I have something else to do." Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulls her closer. Nodding, she laughs and wraps her arms around his neck.

* * *

><p>Pacing up and down the hallway outside Arthur's room, he tries to build up the courage to knock on the door.<p>

Taking a deep breath, Merlin raises him arm and taps on the door 3 times.

"Come in!" He hears Arthur's shout from inside.

Peering his head around the door nervously, he looks inside the room before taking a few hesitant steps inside. Oblivious to Merlin's obvious discomfort, Arthur turns towards him, not even giving him a chance to speak.

"Ah Merlin! I was just about to go look for you!"

"Me? Why?" He stutters nervously.

'_Has he found out? I am so dead.' _Merlin thinks to himself, glancing at Arthur to try and read his expression.

"I have great news! As you know, we have never been on great terms with King Rion's kingdom and after the recent war, they have finally agreed to a peace treaty."

"That's amazing!" Merlin's fear washes away forgotten, as does the real reason he came here.

"Well, there was one condition though…" This time it's Arthur's turn to look anxiously, clearly worrying about Merlin's reaction to the news he had to tell.

"King Rion wishes for a something stronger than paper to bind our 2 kingdoms, marriage between his daughter, Lady Celia and…"

"Who Arthur?"

"Emrys." Arthur suddenly blurts out.

"What?! He wants his daughter to marry _me_? Why me?" Merlin asks, confusion clouding his mind.

"Possibly because you're the 'greatest sorceror to ever have walked the Earth' Merlin you twat." Arthur says, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Very funny dollop head." Merlin says smiling before suddenly freezing.

"What? Ah what I've said has just hit you huh? I always said you were slow Merlin." Arthur says, trying to lighten the mood. When he didn't get a response, he smiles sympathetically at his friend.

"And I have to marry her?" Merlin asks quietly, looking down at the floor.

"I'm sorry Merlin, I really am. I know you hate arranged marriages, that you've always wanted to marry for love. But it's the only way that Camelot would be at peace." Arthur felt even more guilty now after seeing Merlin's expression.

"I know. I understand. I take it you haven't told Gwen yet?" Merlin asks, he tries to smile but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"No, she's going to kill me! She hates them even more than you do!"

"Good luck with that then!" Merlin says, turning around to leave Arthur to his newest problem.

He shuts the door behind him and takes a few steps down the hallway before stopping dead. He suddenly remembered the reason he had gone in to see Arthur in the first place.

'Oh no. What is Morgana going to say?' He speaks aloud to himself, even more worried now than he was when he first went to see Arthur.

Arthur may have been mad for a while, but he would eventually have forgiven him. But Morgana?

He did not want to suffer the wrath of Morgana Pendragon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**By the way, if some of you are confused about what happens in the past in this AU, it is set about 3 or 4 years after season 2 (around season 5 time) but Morgana never became evil, most of the things still happened but they weren't because of Morgana. Also, I have re-uploaded this chapter because I read over it and there were some mistakes further down! :)**_

Merlin once again found himself pacing up and down the hallway, this time outside of Morgana's room.

"Merlin?" He hears a voice from down the hall call to him.

Spinning around, he comes face to face with Gwen. Knowing that it would annoy her, he bows down low.

"Your Majesty." He says adding a little flourish of his hand to annoy her further.

"Merlin! I told you not to do that!" She exclaims, hitting him on the arm playfully.

Smiling in return, he studies her face to see if Arthur has told her the news. But seeing her smile that is reflected in her eyes, it is clear he hasn't. So he decides not to bring it up incase the anger that is due for Arthur is accidently directed towards him.

"Sorry Gwen, I just couldn't resist. Anyway, have you seen Morgana?" He asks, changing the subject suddenly.

"Oh that's why you're in this part of the castle, she's not in her room I'm afraid. I think she said something about going out for a ride?"

"Oh. Thanks, I'll see you later Gwen!" He shouts over his shoulder as he takes off at a run towards the stables. What if Arthur tells her first? Hoping to get there before Arthur, he speeds up, nearly colliding head first into several people heading in the opposite direction.

As he sprints into the courtyard, he can see Morgana just outside the walls of Camelot, several guards surrounding her.

Standing with his hands on his hips, he bends over trying to catch his breath before Morgana returns.

As she rides through the castle gates, he is frozen in his spot, staring at her. Even after a few months with her, Morgana's beauty still takes his breath away. Her long dark hair dances in the wind behind her as she comes trotting in, her cheeks are flushed from riding and as she laughs at something one of the guards say, her bright green eyes light up.

When she spots him standing in the middle of the courtyard waiting for her, she grins at him and with one hand waves away the guards. One of the stables boys rushes forwards to help her off her horse and hold the reins for her but without taking his eyes off her, he dismisses the young boy, turning his head as he scurries back to the stables.

He turns back to Morgana and places his hands on her delicate waist to help her off, Merlin grins when he hears her sharp intake of breath. Another stable boy comes forward and takes away the horse while he takes Morgana's hand gently in his and places a soft kiss on her knuckles.

"My lady." He whispers as he tilts his head up to look her in the eye. Straightening back up, he leans forward to kiss her on the cheek. As he pulls back, he can see the confusion in her eyes yet under all that happiness at what he just did.

"What are you doing Merlin?" She asks, confusion clear in her voice.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"You've told Arthur then?" She asks again, this time the confusion is gone and hope replaces it instead. When she doesn't get a reply, the hope drops from her face and although she tries to hide it, he can see the hurt in her eyes. She turns away from him and walks back towards the castle without saying another word.

Chasing after her, Merlin calls her name over and over but she doesn't turn around, heading towards her room. As she reaches her door, she quickly slips inside and slams the door in his face.

Counting to ten before he slowly opens the door, he sees her standing at the window again, absent-mindedly running her hands along the smooth stone. All of a sudden she whirls around to face him.

"Why? Why won't you tell him? Do you not want us to be together without having to worry about others seeing us together? I'm sick of it Merlin! Sick of it!" By the end, her voice has risen considerably and she raises one of her eyebrows, challenging him to contradict her.

Calmly walking over to her, he places his hands on her upper arms; tracing small circles with his thumbs to sooth her. Slowly calming down, she rests her forehead on his chest and wraps her arms around his neck. Moving his hands, Merlin wraps his arms around her waist instead, pulling her closer, kissing her softly on the cheek.

Seeing her has made him forget all about why he was looking for her in the first place and it suddenly hits Merlin as like a wave. He doesn't want to tell her, it would just ruin everything they had worked so hard to achieve these past few months and he likes everything the way it is, she does too but a small voice inside of him says he needs to tell her, better she find out from him than someone else. Merlin can't keep it in forever anyway; Celia is coming in 2 days! That frightens him further and more than ever he needs Morgana's comforting presence but will she be so comforting when she knows?

"Morgana?" He tries to get her attention; he needs to get this off his chest.

"Hm?" She mumbles back, her face moving from Merlin's chest to bury itself in his neck.

"I-"

"I love you." Internally he winces, mad at myself for being such a coward and for being so selfish.

Looking up, her green eyes twinkle and she presses her lips to his softly.

"Love you too." She replies when she pulls back.

"I'll tell Arthur soon, promise." He says as he pulls her even closer, pressing his lips to hers in what starts off as a soothing, gentle kiss but quickly turns more heated.

Sitting at his desk, which is pressed up against the window, Merlin is able to see the courtyard below and most of lower Camelot, if he stretches his neck out. A flash of purple catches his eye and when he looks closer Merlin realizes that it is Morgana. She strides across the courtyard determinedly and from her stride he can tell she is angry, very angry. Feeling sorry for whoever it is that the anger is directed towards - thinking it most likely to be Arthur again - Merlin chuckles quietly to himself before turning back to his work that he needs to complete as Court Sorcerer.

Sighing at the endless amount of paper that he needs to sign and read over, he thinks back to when he first accepted the job. When Merlin said yes to Arthur, he had thought it would have been quite fun, finally being able to use his gift without having to worry about being caught, and yes although it could be quite fun at times, he didn't quite expect that he would have to do this much work in return.

Merlin is just about to turn over to the next page when the doors to his chambers fly open, hitting the walls with a forceful bang. Judging by the force by which the doors are opened with, he can tell that it was the work of a sorcerer.

Glancing up, he sees Morgana storming into his room, her ebony locks flying wildly behind her. Her green eyes are full of anger and beneath that hurt, her fists are clenching and unclenching at her sides. Thinking that she has come in here to rant about Arthur, Merlin wonders what he has done this time to anger her but as he sees her expression he can see that her anger is not at Arthur, but him. Merlin braces himself for what is to come and it is not long before she nearly explodes.

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED?!" She shouts at him, closing the doors forcefully with a slight flick of her hand. Internally, Merlin curses himself, this was the whole reason why he should have told her himself but now he has set himself up for a lot of anger from Morgana, someone you wouldn't want to have a small argument with, let alone the big one he knows is coming.

"Well.. it's a long story…" He mutters, still sitting in his chair, cowering slightly.

"That's why you didn't want to tell Arthur? Because you were seeing someone else behind my back? You were cheating on me? And now I find out that you're marrying her instead? You coward!" Her voice is not any calmer than before, if anything it has raised more.

"What?!" He asks, standing up suddenly, knocking his chair over behind him in the process. Shock runs through Merlin, how she could think that he would do such a thing is beyond him.

"You heard me Merlin." She snaps, advancing towards him.

"It's not what you think Morgana! I'm not seeing someone behind your back! It is an arranged marriage! Arthur is making me!" He shouts back at her, knowing she wouldn't listen otherwise but he quickly see his mistake when she becomes even angrier instead of calming down.

* * *

><p>Gwen is walking down the hallway when she suddenly hears the shouting coming from a door further down. Wondering where it is coming from, she walks faster but quickly spots which room it is.<p>

There is a crowd of servants standing outside a door, obviously trying to listen to a fight between a lord and his wife to spread gossip among the court but when she looks closer, she soon realizes who's door they are all standing outside of, it is Merlin's chamber.

One serving girl glances her way and quickly a whisper spreads through the crowd, almost at once, they all scurry off in different directions, continuing with what they are meant to be doing.

Stopping to listen to what is going on, she hears 2 loud voices coming from inside. One is clearly Morgana's and the other Merlin's. She only manages to hear 'Don't lie to me Merlin!', before the door opens suddenly and Morgana storms out. She heads in the opposite direction, oblivious to Gwen standing there with a look of shock on her face.

Quietly creeping forwards towards Merlin's bedchamber, she peers anxiously around the door, not knowing what to expect. What she sees doesn't surprise her though, a chair lies on the floor by Merlin's desk, probably caused by him but the rest is clearly from Morgana. One of the curtains hangs limply, only one half still intact and stuck to the rail around while another chair is overturned opposite a tapestry that now lies on the floor ruined.

In the middle of this mess, Merlin sits on his bed with his head in his hands, looking dejected and forlorn. To get his attention, she whispers his name so that she doesn't startle him. Obviously thinking she is Morgana, he looks up hopefully but the expression falls from his face quickly and he returns to looking at the floor.

Picking her way around the mess on the floor, Gwen sits next to Merlin on the bed. Putting an arm around his shoulders, she waits for him to speak.

"You heard?" He whispers, not taking his gaze off the floor.

"Only the last part but I can guess. She isn't happy about Lady Celia stealing you?" She quickly replies, emphasizing the last bit to hint to him she knows about them.

"Wait you know about me and Morgana?"

"That you're courting her? Yes, who do you think I am Merlin?" She asks him, trying to lighten the mood.

"Arthur told you about Lady Celia, you aren't mad?" He asks, only smiling slightly at what she said.

"Of course I am but the anger is for Arthur, not you." She gives him a light hug to try and reassure him but she gets no reply. They sit there in silence for a while, Merlin looking at his feet while she studies the mess Morgana left behind, after a while Merlin finally speaks up.

"I was going to ask her to marry me." He whispers, so quietly she can hardly hear him.

"What?!" She looks at him with disbelief, the shock clear on her face.

"After I told Arthur, I was going to ask Morgana to marry me. But I can't know." His sad tone and dejected look only makes her angrier with her husband, wishing he had spoken to Merlin before he agreed to the marriage.

"You know he can be an idiot sometimes. I'll send someone to come clean this up, I had better go see if Morgana has destroyed any other chambers." She says, patting Merlin on the back before turning around to navigate her way back across the room, picking up a chair on the way and setting it back to it's original position.

"Good luck with her Merlin!" She says on her way out, in response she gets a weak smile but it's better than nothing.

Arthur hears her heels clicking against the stone floor outside before the doors to his chambers swing open forcefully, her eyes are glowing gold and when they return to their original green colour, he can see the fiery anger in them.

"Don't make him do it." She says, sounding less angry than she looks, Morgana sounds more upset than angry.

"What are you talking about Morgana?" He asks her, looking at her in confusion.

"Don't make Merlin marry her Arthur, please!" She cries out, her eyes plead with him.

"Morgana… you know it's for the sake of Camelot."

"But Merlin…"

"I know you're good friends with Merlin and it's sweet you are concerned about him but I'm sure he and the Lady Celia will get on fine. I have thought about this Morgana, they both have magic so they can relate with that and-"

"But he already has someone he can relate to with magic – me!" She interrupts him, with earns her a glare but she ignores it.

"You know what I mean Morgana, I don't only mean _relate_ it that way. Plus, I have heard about the Lady Celia, she is said to be a great beauty as well as kind and caring, they might come to love one another."

"No! She can't be beautiful! And he won't love her!"

"Morga-"

"No Arthur! He doesn't need to love her because he has me! I love him!" She screams, turning on her heel after her outburst and storming back out of the open doors for the second time that day. Behind her, she leaves Arthur in a state of shock, staring at the spot where his sister was standing, not quite believing his ears.


End file.
